Heel brace



July 19, 1949.

F. L. BRANDTQIR HEEL BRACE Filed Due.

i aten ted july 19, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEEL BRACE FrancisL. Brandt, Jr., Saugus, Mass.

Application December 29, 1945, Serial No. 638,251

2 Claims. (Cl. 36-76) The present invention relates to an improvement inheel braces.

High heels of shoes, and particularly the French style heel of womensshoes, are liable to become loosened and even detached due to somesudden strain as when the heel catches on the edge of a stair orcurbing. Attempts have been made to prevent such loosening or detachingby providing a metal reinforcement shaped to fit against the shank ofthe sole and the breast of the heel and to be secured thereto by nailsor screws.

Difficulty is experienced, however, particularly with the French heel,in properly driving the nails or screws into the breast of the heel andthe' bottom surface of the sole, the forward inclined heel and thedownwardly inclined sole interfering with the proper use of the hammeror screw driver in the hand of the cobbler in applying the fasteningdevices of such reinforcements.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a heel bracewhich may be easily and quickly applied to the shank of the sole and thebreast of the heel by the operator, without interference from any partof the shoe, and which will provide a strong support and reinforcementfor the heel and prevent its loosening or being detached when subjectedto sudden and unusual strain.

With these objects in view, the present invention consists in a heelbrace comprising a rigid, elongated member having a pair ofsubstantially parallel prongs extending one from each end of suchmember, and adapted to be driven or forced in an inclined direction, oneinto the breast of the heel and the other into the shank of the sole, toprovide a rigid brace or strut extending diagonally from a point on thebreast of the heel spaced from the shank of the sole, to a point on theshank of the sole spaced from the breast of the heel.

In the accompanying drawing, which shows the various features of thepresent invention, Fig. 1 is a top plan and Fig. 2 a side elevation ofthe support for the sole and heel with the inverted rear portion of ashoe positioned for the application of the reinforcing member; Fig. 3 isa perspective view of brace detached; Fig, 4 is a perspective view ofthe driving tool in position to be applied to the brace; Fig. 5 showsthe heel portion of a shoe with the brace in position to be appliedthereto and in dotted outline the driving tool in engagement with thebrace; Fig. 6 shows the brace after it has been applied to the heel andsole; Fig. '7 shows a modification in which the brace has been bentdownwardly 2 to fit closely the contour of the heel and sole, thedriving tool during this bending operation being applied transversely ofthe brace; and Figs. 8 and 9 show perspective views of modified forms ofbrace.

As shown in Fig. 3, the heel brace consists of an elongated, thin metalmember or bar H, having prongs I3 and I5 integrally formed therewith andextending in parallel relation from the opposite ends of the bar. Theends of the prongs are beveled to facilitate their insertion in the heeland sole. These braces may be formed at small expense by stamping themfrom sheet metal.

While a brace can be applied to a heel and sole by positioning thebrace, as shown in Fig. 5, with one prong against the shank ll of thesole of the shoe and the other against the breast [9 of the heel, andthen driving the brace by means of hammer blows applied first over oneprong and then over the other, the shoe being held upon the ordinaryshoemakers last by the cobbler, the attaching operation can be:performed more accurately and expeditiously if the shoe be held upon asupport such as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

This shoe support comprises a circular base 2| having the rearwardextension 23. From the front of the brace rises the post 25, carrying atits top the fiat elliptical anvil 27 to support the rear portion of theinverted shoe 29. Fixedly mounted in the boss 3| in the rearwardextension 23 is the rod 33 with the externally threaded upper end 35.

Slidingly mounted upon the upper end of the rod is the clamping membercomprising the crosshead 31 with the lateral extensions 39, eachhaving ahorizontal bore therethrough. Loosely fitting within these bores are thearms 4| connected at their rear by the semi-circular portion 43 to forma U-shaped device, and having outwardly flaring front ends 45 carryingrubber heel engaging abutments 41 of frustro-conical shape, to engagethe sloping side and rear walls of the heel.

A coiled compression spring 5! normally urges the cross-head and partscarried thereby in an upward direction against the adjusting hand nut53. Limited rotary movement of the cross-head -31'on the rod 33 isprovided by means of a pin 55 fixed in the rear face of the stud andengaging the slightly wider vertical slot 51 on the crosshead.

In positioning a shoe on the shoe support the clamping member is firstraised by screwing up- 'wardly the hand nut 53. The U-shaped device isthen withdrawn rearwardly, the arms 4| sliding freely through the boresin the cross-head. The shoe is now placed upon the anvil, as shown, andthe U-shaped device moved forwardly to bring the rubber abutments abovethe sloping sides and rear wall of the heel. The hand nut is thenscrewed down to apply clamping pressure to the heel portion of the shoe,holding the sole and heel' securely against driving pres-. sure when thebrace is applied.

The application of the brace, sole and heel is greatly facilitated andliability of lateral distortion or bending of the brace and prongs,avoided by the use of the driving tool illustrated in Fig. 4, whichconsists of a length of metal bar SI of a width substantiallyv equal tothe length of the brace 50 that the driving face of the tool willoverlie both prongs, and of a thickness su.f-..

ficient to permit the formation of the groove 63 in the end thereof toreceive the edge or the brace and support the same laterally whilev ham:mer blows are being applied to the opposite end to. force the prongs;into the sole and heel, re spectively.

After the brace has been driven to the position shown in Fig. 6, it may,if desired, be bent downwardly to fit more closely the contour of thesole and heel in the manner shown in Fig. 7. This is accomplished byapplying the tool transversely of the brace, the transverse notch 65being- PEG: vided for this DUITPQSE and, the tool being movedprogressively along the length of the brace While the hammer blows areapplied to the opposite end of the tool. In Fi s. 8 a d 9 a e s own mfied o ms. at the braces. Fig. 8 illustrates a stronger and more rigidconstruction provided with tour at-i taching prongs which permit, theuse or thin; ner and less expensive stock. The brace oi Fig. 9 curvesdownwardly betw n t e pr n s, o t closely into the angle between, thebreat of the heel and the shank of the sole.

The four prong construction of 8 cons sts of two side members H, eachwith a prong 12 at each end, the side members being arranged in spacedparallel relation and connected by the flat top I5. This form of bracecould alse be stamped out from sheet metal and brought by a simplebending operation to the shape shown use of the tool of Fig. 1 to avoidtwisting or dis.-

tortion of the brace.

It will .be noted that since the pron s Q the brace of the presentinvention are imbedded diagonally on the breast of heel and shank of thesole, they may be driven home by blows of the cobblers hammer eitherapplied directly to the brace or through the medium of the driving tool,

and since these blows are delivered obliquely of the sole and heel,there is no possibility of interference with the hammer by any part ofthe shoe, as is the case with the reinforcements of the prior art.

Where the shoe is provided with a steel shank stiffener, as indicated.at IT in Figs. 5, 6 and '7 of the drawings, the pointed end of theforward prong will be turned rearwardly when it cont acts the stifieneras shown, in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings.

While the present invention has been shown in what is now considered itspreferred form or embodiment, it is to be understood that it is notlimited thereto except where so specifically recited in the claims, butmay be embodied in eth r e msand arr n I-I avi ng thus described theinvention, what is claimed is:

1. A shoe comprising an outsole with a shank portion, a heel, and. areinforcing brace extending diagonally from the breast of the heel abovethe sole to the shank portion forward of the heel breast, the braceconsisting of an elongated rigid member having a pair of substantiallyparallel prongs one at each end of the member, the prongs being embeddedone in the breast of the heel and. the other in the shank portion of thesole.

2. A shoe comprising an outsole with a shank portion, a metallic shankstifiener, a heel, and a reenforcing brace extending diagonally from thebreast of the heel above the sole to the shank portion forward of theheel breast, the brace consisting of an elongated rigid member having atleast one laterally extending prong at each end of the member, a prongat one end of the member being embedded in the breast of the heel and aprong at the other end of the member being embedded in the shankportionof the shoe with the point of the latter prong curled over as a resultof engagement with the metallic shank stifiener.

FRANCIS L. BRANDT, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2 4,425 Young Feb. 28. 18821,206,425 Feasey Nov. 28, 1915 ,213,334 Chapman Jan. 23, 191'? 1,325,845Harris Dec. 23, 1919 1,4 ,89 Wes un 1322 8.208 Ac a pt- 924, 1,619,648Bartels s Mar. 1, 1927 1,724,355 Kutscher Aug. 13, 1927 1,725,456 JafieAug. 20, 1929 1,743,010 De Rusha et al Feb. 13, 1930 1,914,257 HolmesJune 13, 1933 2,995,196 Paquette Oct. 5; 193'; 2,167,526 Sabo et al July25', loss 2, 35,961 Russell Decl .4; 19 3 2.3 1%! Ar na ne 4, 6

OTHER REFERENCES Master Shoe Rebuilder, page 22, Nov. 1945.

